Of Gods and Globes III: Trigger Warnings and The Abyss

Given that we know that the moon holds sway over the ocean tides, and the almost universal testimony of the effect of a full moon on people, it seems plausible that there are planetary effects that are more mysterious than we have discovered. Does a bias against seeming superstitious or appearing to descend to horoscope folly cause the scientific community to leave such questions less explored than they should be? After all, our words "influence" and "lunacy," not to mention the names of the days of our week, remind us that this belief has a strange staying power. Science has a very different view of energy than when astrology was rejected, so maybe it is possible to study our relationship to the cosmos in a way that avoids the pseudoscience but answers our lingering questions, like the impact of the moon on hospitals? What we don't know about such things could and does fill many books. But even Disney continues to invite us to wish upon a star. What there is to that idea scientifically we don't yet know, but anthropologically there's something profound at work. Maybe we need a branch of psychology devoted to the symphony of the spheres? Or maybe we need Of Gods and Globes III to speculate on the connection with fantasy and sci fi stories? ____ 
Ed. Lancelot So this Of Gods and Globes series isn't astrology, or isn't supposed to be, so what the heck are we doing here — enough for a third volume? Dr. Anthony As with most complicated concepts in history, we have to start with, "What do we mean by astrology?" The etymology of it is difficult to distinguish from the study of the stars. And the development of studying the stars, like many branches of science, were tangled up with what we might call magic today. Isidore of Seville introduced the distinction between astronomy and astrology in the seventh century, though their separation wouldn't be completed until the scientific revolution. 
 But as C.S. Lewis wrote about in the Discarded Image, the relationship between astronomy and astrology was deeply influential on the poetic vision of the universe. In other words, studying how the stars worked was involved in studying the meaning of human life. So if Chaucer tells you that the planet Venus was shining brightly, that meant something more profound than mere symbolic ornamentation. It signalled a connection between the man as microcosm and the macrocosm of creation. In a way, it's about the influence of the non-physical mind has over matter? Or of larger bodies on smaller bodies and vice versa? Yes, and I think this series of volumes is working in an area of literary symbolism that extends the work C.S. Lewis was attempting in the Space Trilogy, to restore the power of the Discarded Image. Not that we should return to medieval science, but to a medieval recognition that not only does the mind influence matter, but that matter is infused with mind. We talk about Enlightenment, for example, but that mental state has behind it the physical effect light has not only on the eyes but on the mind. Who hasn't felt better after taking a walk in the sun? 
That is partly due to things science can explain, but also because the sun rising as metaphor for a soul coming out of darkness into non-physical light (whether emotional, spiritual, or what have you) is in some sense the metaphor, the correct metaphor if I may say so, because it grasps at a real symbolic potential for the mind that the sun actually possesses. We use light to discuss the mind's brightening because light actually does brighten the psyche, and so partakes actually in the process it represents symbolically. The celestial bodies are not the only part of our physical environment that have this potential, but again, that they are perceptually above us matters for their symbolic reality for our condition. They lift up our eyes, and so they lift up our minds, too. Do you think the tidal realities of the planets have actual influence on our planet, though the pseudoscience of modern astrology gets this wrong? I suspect you are more qualified to answer this question than I am, but given that we know that the moon holds sway over the ocean tides, and the almost universal testimony of the effect of a full moon on people, it seems plausible that there are planetary effects that are more mysterious than we have discovered. It’s possible that a bias towards our seeming superstitious or appearing to descend to horoscope folly has caused the scientific community to leave such questions less explored than they should be. 
 After all, our words "influence" and "lunacy," not to mention the names of the days of our week, remind us that this belief has a strange staying power. Science has a very different view of energy than when astrology was rejected, so maybe it is possible to study our relationship to the cosmos in a way that avoids the pseudoscience but answers our...